Soft Infrastructure

The past 500 or so years has seen the development and expansion of our "hard" global public infrastructure.  These are the physical elements that show up in the pictures that define our urban landscape.  The streets that aid in moving people, the natural gas line that heats our homes, the wastewater collection main that keeps the city clean and healthy - - the "hard" parts of our public infrastructure that have been a remarkable success.

Clearly the future will have "hard" components - - we will not stop designing and building bridges and water treatment plants.  But our notion of public infrastructure for the 21st century will be a blend of the "hard" physical infrastructure and the "soft" infrastructure.

"Soft" infrastructure will be the combined utilization of information architecture, informatics, analytics, and instrumentation.  The goal of 21st "soft" infrastructure is to better connect people with information that they can then use to make choices that reduce waste and promote sustainability.  It will be about taking the non-interesting circles of our "hard" infrastructure and providing connectedness that allows for a more informed citizenry and more robust decision-making public institutions.

Several themes will be important as "soft" blends with the "hard".  One is the idea of open information.  Open information is important - - it increases the efficiency of resource use and it makes cities and urban environments better to live in.  At its most fundamental level, sustainability is driven by behavioral change.  Technology alone cannot stop energy waste.  Only people can do that - - where change starts with better information.

The second theme is that "soft" means real time - - sensors located on existing infrastructure that can monitor critical parameters and report patterns in real time.  It is about an infrastructure experience that is richer, more efficient, and more personalized.  It is about making non-intersecting circles connect - - information feedback loops that connect systems to systems and systems to people.  "Soft" means providing information in real time that enables better decisions - - in a more sustainable world this means providing information that encourages smart behavioral change.

The final theme is a an understanding that "hard" and "soft" exist together.  The many-sidedness of "hard" and "soft" need to co-exist so as to provide the opportunity for a public infrastructure unifying purpose.  The hardness of our complex physical infrastructure should not breed mystery.  Softening some of that hardness with better information produces a public environment of shared context and perspectives.